Duke Robillard has released four albums and a DVD over the past three years, and if that’s not enough to convince you that this New England–bred blues and jazz guitar legend is prolific, you might note that his new World Full of Blues boasts 23 tunes on two CDs. As the title suggests, those songs slice through every root and offshoot of the blues. Maybe Robillard’s stint as Tom Waits’s tour guitarist in 2006 fueled his creativity, because here he rumbles through T-Bone Walker’s swinging “Treat Me So Lowdown” and knocks out the dirty Chicago grind “You’re Killin’ Me Baby” with the same élan he brings to the mesmerizing, Wes Montgomery–inspired “Stoned.” The native Rhode Islander deploys his impeccable tone on the frayed Mississippi-juke-joint arrangement of “Everything Is Broken,” a tune penned by another of his famous ex-bosses, Bob Dylan. And “Low Side of the Road” gets its Waits-like voodoo vibe from a mix of electric and acoustic guitars and some lute-like saz. The messin’ ’round’s not limited to guitar tones, either — Robillard drops to his lowest vocal register to echo Bo Diddley’s dusty howl for the rock grandpappy’s “Who Do You Love.” It all culminates in “Stretchin’,” nearly 10 minutes of the evocative soul-jazz, guitar-and-organ-combo sound invented by Jimmy Smith. And everything on these CDs is played with total command.

Back to the future Since leaving Roomful of Blues, the vintage guitar hero Duke Robillard has moved forward by reaching back into the annals of American blues, swing, jazz, and R&B and by doing so, he’s told a pretty incredible story.

See ya, '09! Forget those gift cards burning a hole in your pocket and catch some good shows around to close out '09.

Candles + caring Former Best Music Poll nominee Mike Gendron and uncle Pete Gendron team up and unplug at the Greenwich Hotel on THURSDAY (the 4th), rocking the lounge free of charge til 12:30 am.

Party like it’s 2010 Your usual lackadaisical approach to New Year's Eve — just see what happens and go with the flow — is not going to cut it this year. So to help you make this one count, here are some sure-thing NYE happenings, and some suggestions for the first day of '10.

Our kinda Blue She may currently live outside of Boston, but Diane Blue is, in her heart and on record, an Ocean Stater.

Whole lotta everything On THURSDAY (the 20th), it's last call for a pair of fun freebies from longtime local faves, as THE WIPPETS play Doherty's East Ave Irish Pub (401.725.1800), while ALLYSEN CALLERY travels to Perks Coffeehouse in Norwood, MA (781.762.5565).

TOM HAMBRIDGE | BOOM! | August 23, 2011 Roots rock is the new country and ex-Bostonian Tom Hambridge is the style's current MPV.

COUNTRY STRONG | SOUNDTRACK | January 11, 2011 This steaming pile of songs is emblematic of the state of mainstream country music — all artifice, no heart, calculated anthems written to formula and meant, like the film itself, to do no more than capitalize on the genre's current success and rob its undiscriminating fans.